York Castle Museum

Collections

York Castle Museum's collections have all been awarded 'designated' status for their national and international importance.

Our collections include the thousands of items on display in the museum and many more items that are behind the scenes in storage.

This section gives an overview of everything, both on display and off.

Costume and Textiles

Our costume collection is one of the largest in Britain. It includes men's, women's and children's clothes and accessories, household furnishings and needlework, and covers over two hundred years.  View Collection

Military History

Our military collection includes the best collection of swords, the most comprehensive collection of firearms and the finest collection of sixteenth and seventeenth century armour in a regional British museum.  View Collection

Social History

Our Social History collection has more than 98,000 items relating to the everyday lives of people in Britain and is one of the best in the country.  View Collection

Star Objects

This section highlights objects which are rare, beautiful, interesting, or tell a story. In many cases they are not always on display and our website gives us the opportunity to show them to you.

1914: a world-changing year

We've put together this selection of photos, objects and paintings from our collections, all dating to 1914-18, as we plan a major new exhibition for 2014  View Collection

Automaton Clock

This extravagant, highly decorated clock, featuring moving figures and sound, dates from the 1780s and has recently been restored and repaired to its former glory (2011).  View Collection

Chinese Reflections

Chinese treasures and Western objects inspired by Chinese design are featured in a new book published by York Museums Trust, Chinese Reflections.  View Collection

Dick Turpin - hero or villain?

Dick Turpin was hanged on York's Knavesmire on 7 April 1739 after being held for six months in the prison which later became York Castle Museum.  View Collection

Dr John Kirk - founder of York Castle Museum

A fascinating selection of archive photos giving an insight into the life of Dr Kirk  View Collection

Guide Book gems

Some of our best-loved and most outstanding objects feature in a new colour guide book to York Castle Museum.  View Collection

Home-made History

We have a fascinating collection of more than 100 historic patchwork quilts dating back nearly 300 years.   View Collection

Ice cream making

In Victorian times, ice cream was very different to the vanilla, strawberry or chocolate varieties we enjoy today.   View Collection

Miniature Marvels

The world of the miniature is a huge one in the collections of York Castle Museum.  View Collection

Princess Mary's 1914 Christmas Gift

At Christmas 1914 this special Christmas gift from the nation was sent to servicemen and women serving in the First World War.  View Collection

Shackleton's cocoa

This Rowntree’s cocoa tin was taken to the Antarctic by explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1909.  View Collection

Shopping in Victorian York

Thousands more objects have been added to the shops in our Victorian street, Kirkgate, during 2012. Here is just a small selection.  View Collection

Sweet memories

Terry's of York was one of Britain's oldest confectionery making companies and was one of the first to make eating chocolate rather than drinking chocolate.  View Collection

Victorian Christmas

The Victorians transformed Christmas with new customs and traditions which reflected the changes in society that took place in the second half of the 19th century.  View Collection

Wartime Christmas

We have a fantastic collection of Christmas cards sent during the First World War (1914 - 18).  View Collection